RoDi vs ...

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Kleko

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Feb 5, 2011
If i were to go to the grocery store and buy deionized water is there a difference not having the reverse osmosis? I have been told RoDi is the best but i wanted to get the sites view of it.
Thanks
 

spyd

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Although the processes are different, the end result is the same. Both will produce 0 TDS water. The BIGGEST difference though is the price!! Distilled water costs a lot more per gallon. If you can spring for an RO/DI unit, not only is it more efficient, but it will save you money in the long run. Having the unit in your house and available at all times is worth it.

Again, both will produce the same quality for the most part, however, there is a huge cost factor. With RO/DI you spend upfront but produce water a lot cheaper. With distilled, you spend less initally, however, you will spend more over the long term.
 

xxmurrxx

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Windsor, Ontario
I have used water like that for a while with no problems, I never did a TDS reading on it but again never any horrible problems. Now I own a RO unit and find it 100x more convenient. I know the tds is 0, and can make as much as needed. 
 

Kleko

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Feb 5, 2011
Should put this in the "looking For" Section, but im saying it here too. Anyone have a Ro/Di unit they don't need?
 
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reeffreak

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you really want RODI not just RO or just DI ... how do you know the water from the store your getting it from is 0 tds 100% ? My guess is if its just RO its not 0 tds .
 
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reeffreak

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hey salty there is no debate ....RODI hands down , wins everytime  ;) Im sure others will argue that but really there is nothing to argue about if you have seen the TDS come out of the tap and then the TDS coming out of the RODI unit .... 200 TDS is not what you want to put in a tank
 

Salty Cracker

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reeffreak link said:
hey salty there is no debate ....RODI hands down , wins everytime  ;) Im sure others will argue that but really there is nothing to argue about if you have seen the TDS come out of the tap and then the TDS coming out of the RODI unit .... 200 TDS is not what you want to put in a tank

DAngit we're arguing the same side.  :)
 
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reeffreak

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thats no fun  :) everything looks great by the way thank you very much .. great to meet you aswell had a blast over at your place
 

Salty Cracker

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reeffreak link said:
thats no fun  :) everything looks great by the way thank you very much .. great to meet you aswell had a blast over at your place

That was fun, I meant to ask is that pokey pointy little coral made out okay.  And yep it was fun!!  Anytime you're in London.
 

Poseidon

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i used 550ppm tap water for 6 months... saw great coral growth, fish health and everything else... phosphate was a little high and i started getting red slime after 2 months of having my 180g.... so i bought n r/o filter, did 2 huge water changes over the course of 2 weeks... phosphates went down a wee bit, and the red slime is still there...
if i could go back i would not have got the ro because to me, it was just a 250$ investment that has made 0 to little difference ....
 
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reeffreak

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Brandon link said:
i used 550ppm tap water for 6 months... saw great coral growth, fish health and everything else... phosphate was a little high and i started getting red slime after 2 months of having my 180g.... so i bought n r/o filter, did 2 huge water changes over the course of 2 weeks... phosphates went down a wee bit, and the red slime is still there...
if i could go back i would not have got the ro because to me, it was just a 250$ investment that has made 0 to little difference ....

when your rock has been soaking in tap water for 6 months and then starting to add just RO will take a very long time to bring it all the way to 0 because your rock is leeeching out all that "tap water" its been sitting in for months . and again its not just RO water you want its RODI water . there is really no arguement about it , if you would ave started with rodi water and were still using rodi water it could be different depending how often water changes were done and how well the tank was maintained .
 

unibob

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Brandon link said:
i used 550ppm tap water for 6 months... saw great coral growth, fish health and everything else... phosphate was a little high and i started getting red slime after 2 months of having my 180g.... so i bought n r/o filter, did 2 huge water changes over the course of 2 weeks... phosphates went down a wee bit, and the red slime is still there...
if i could go back i would not have got the ro because to me, it was just a 250$ investment that has made 0 to little difference ....


The 6 months of tap may have been enough to "pollute" your rock. Hard to say.
 

Poseidon

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ive heard that alot, that the phosphates leach into the rock, but ive found no evidence, scientificly or logically to support that, and ive looked..... not sure what to do with it... im debating selling my whole system and starting over and doing everything the right way lol...
but lets not hijack the thread...  continue with ro- tap water discussion :)
 

Salty Cracker

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6 months of 550ppm?? Og course it did damage to the rock...heavy metals and who knows what else... 2 water changes wouldn't do anything. 

To undo the damage from my tapwater habit I had to do likely 200 water changes and non-stop GFO.  I was saying to reeffreak this weekend that if I stopped using gfo I'd likely get slime back as I'll bet there's still residuals in the rock and substrate.  Our tapwater is only about 130ppm too!
 

Salty Cracker

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Brandon link said:
ive heard that alot, that the phosphates leach into the rock, but ive found no evidence, scientificly or logically to support that, and ive looked..... not sure what to do with it... im debating selling my whole system and starting over and doing everything the right way lol...
but lets not hijack the thread...  continue with ro- tap water discussion :)

The evidence is the slime...it's living on something.  ;D

Here's a pic from mine early last year.  Proof frogspawn can live in almost anything.  6 months before this and I may have argued with people that tapwater was 'good enough' for a reef tank. 
 

spyd

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If you want to test it Brandon, then boil a little piece of rock in some RO water. Take a phosphate test afterwards and see what it is saying. If it is reading 0 then there's no phosphate issues.

P.S This may stink up your mom's kitchen! Use the exhaust vent.  ;)
 

pulpfiction1

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I use the water from my well ,TDS  500+,had red slime algae once,and a small run of hair algae in over 9 years ,my phosphates have always being in check,city water is a different story ,here in the city I tried it  had massive startup issues and I'm buying distilled at the present time 

Sent from my HTC Incredible S
 
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